On Target Detection by Quantum Radar (Preprint)

Both Noise Radar and Quantum Radar, with some alleged common features, exploit the randomness of the transmitted signal to enhance radar covertness and to reduce mutual interference. While Noise Radar has been prototypically developed and successfully tested in many environments by different organizations, the significant investments on Quantum Radar seem not to be followed by practically operating prototypes or demonstrators. Starting from the trivial fact that radar detection depends on the energy transmitted on the target and backscattered by it, some detailed evaluations in this work show that the detection performance of all the proposed QR types in the literature are orders of magnitude below the ones of a much simpler and cheaper equivalent classica radar set, in particular of the NR type. Moreover, the absence of a, sometimes alleged, Quantum radar cross section different from the radar cross section is explained. Hence, the various Quantum Radar proposals cannot lead to any useful result, especially, but not limited to, the alleged detection of stealth targets.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 11 equations, 62 References. Not submitted. A "negative" result is obtained and presented with full details. This resuly is deemed useful and interesting according to the teachings by Karl Poppe

Range limitations in microwave quantum radar

This work, written for engineers or managers with no special knowledge of quantum mechanics, nor deep experience in radar, aims to help the scientific, industrial, and governmental community to better understand the basic limitations of proposed microwave quantum radar (QR) technologies and systems. Detection and ranging capabilities for QR are critically discussed and a comparison with its closest classical radar (CR), i.e., the noise radar (NR), is presented. In particular, it is investigated whether a future fielded and operating QR system might really outperform an “equivalent” classical radar, or not. The main result of this work, coherently with the recent literature, is that the maximum range of a QR for typical aircraft targets is intrinsically limited to less than one km, and in most cases to some tens of meters. Detailed computations show that the detection performance of all the proposed QR types are orders of magnitude below the ones of any much simpler and cheaper equivalent “classical” radar set, in particular of the noise radar type. These limitations do not apply to very-short-range microwave applications, such as microwave tomography and radar monitoring of heart and breathing activity of people (where other figures, such as cost, size, weight, and power, shall be taken into account). Moreover, quantum sensing at much higher frequencies (optical and beyond) is not considered here

Radar environment characterization by signal processing techniques

Selecting the optimal site for a surveillance radar is a complex task including the minimization of unwanted radar echoes due to land, vegetation and man-made infrastructures, called land clutter (or fixed clutter) in the radar jargon. Such a disturbing phenomenon may be orders of magnitude more powerful than the useful echoes due to the targets of interest, making them hardly visible. A careful selection of the radar site may minimize the extent of land clutter, but the related experimental analysis by a set of live measurements may require movements of heavy and bulky radar sets. In this paper, aimed at the widely used X-Band (3 cm wavelength) radars, we propose a novel, simpler and practical approach based on the calibration, using standard radar reflectors and signal processing means, of a simple, light and cheap X-band radar, easily movable in the operational site. Live results are presented and discussed